You Deserve Each Other

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle is a contemporary romantic comedy about an engaged couple who, with three months until their wedding, realize they can’t stand one another. Whoever breaks things off has to foot the bill for the wedding, so both try to sabotage the relationship, only to find that being their true selves is the missing key to being in love. You Deserve Each Other received rave reviews from Booklist and NPR for its witty dialogue and emotional journey, and it was a 2020 Goodreads Nominee in the romance category. You Deserve Each Other is Hogle’s debut novel and has been followed by several romantic comedies, some with a twist of the paranormal. Hogle is a stay-at-home mom who writes full-time. 

This guide is based on the 2020 G. P. Putnam’s Sons print edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain references to sexual content and cursing.

Plot Summary

The Prologue opens with the main couple, Naomi and Nicholas, on their second date at a drive-in theater. Naomi has been waiting for this night, hoping Nicholas will kiss her. When he does, it feels like magic, and she knows she’s in love. Chapter 1 picks up a year and nine months later. Naomi and Nicholas are engaged and, over the last several months, have been drifting apart. Naomi no longer knows if she loves Nicholas and withdraws from interactions with him because his attitude and constant pandering to his mother infuriate her. Naomi’s one refuge is her work at the Junk Yard (a local oddities shop), hanging out with her coworkers.

When Nicholas decides to accompany Naomi to her coworkers’ game night to spite her, Naomi is determined not to let the cracks in their relationship show. According to social media, she and Nicholas are blissfully happy, but Naomi struggles to keep up the facade around other people. When game night ends with an argument between Nicholas and one of Naomi’s coworkers, Naomi realizes that Nicholas is trying to force Naomi to call off the wedding so she’ll have to foot the bill. Newly invigorated not to let Nicholas win, Naomi decides she’s done being nice and puts all her effort into taunting Nicholas and irritating his mother, who dislikes Naomi.

After a horrible night with Nicholas’s parents, Nicholas and Naomi have their first real fight. Nicholas vows to start doing things his way and leaves. The next day, he trades in his fancy car for a Jeep and starts wearing jeans instead of dress pants. At the end of the week, Nicholas brings Naomi out to a new house that he bought from one of her coworkers. The house overlooks a pond and reminds Naomi of a fairy-tale cottage. Nicholas believes the house will save their relationship, but Naomi doubts it. While she loves the house, she’s annoyed Nicholas bought it without her input and resolves to make his life miserable.

A short time later, the Junk Yard goes under, and Naomi loses her job. She applies at different places around town, but none of them hire her, making her feel like a failure. Taunting Nicholas becomes her main goal in life, and she dedicates her days to playing pranks on him and waiting for him to retaliate. One night, when they are supposed to meet Nicholas’s parents for dinner, Naomi stalls, so Nicholas has to go without her. Then, she swaps cars with one of her coworkers, intending to show up underdressed in the ugly car so Nicholas’s mother will call off the wedding. Not realizing the car is a stick shift, Naomi struggles to drive, finally stalling at a red light. She leaves the car at the intersection and calls Nicholas, who leaves his parents to come help her. On the way home, the two have their first honest discussion in ages. Naomi is impressed that Nicholas ditched his mother, and she wants to believe this means Nicholas has changed, but she also knows she can’t base her future on one good impulse.

Nick and Naomi’s pranks intensify, intermingled with moments of tenderness. When Naomi puts Nicholas’s hand in the water while he sleeps, Nicholas wakes up, knocks over the water, and spills it on his phone. He tries to steal Naomi’s phone until he can get a new one, but Naomi fights to keep him away from it because she doesn’t want him to see her list of failed job applications and judge her. Nicholas becomes suspicious that Naomi is cheating on him and taunts her with romantic Secret Santa gifts for his boss. When Naomi angrily admits she’d be crushed if Nicholas got involved with someone else, the two kiss for the first time in weeks, getting lost in each other. Afterward, Naomi runs away, afraid of what the kiss might mean.

Naomi and Nicholas start to do favors for each other, both secretly touched by the small gestures. On Thanksgiving, they run into one of Naomi’s former coworkers on their way to see Nicholas’s parents. Both the coworker and Nicholas’s parents taunt Nicholas and Naomi about their shortcomings, and instead of leaving the other to fend for themselves, Naomi and Nicholas stand up for each other. Later, Naomi shows Nicholas the list of failed jobs on her phone, and to her delight, he supports her efforts.

When Nicholas goes away for a weekend, Naomi misses him more than she thought possible. Since he isn’t supposed to be back until late on Sunday, Naomi texts him that she misses him and then curls up in his bed. In the middle of the night, she wakes to find Nicholas there—he drove through the night to come home because he missed her, too. The two make love, promising each other they’ll be there for one another. The next day, Naomi goes to get a surprise breakfast, only to find her and Nicholas’s wedding invitations in the trash when she returns. Thinking this means Nicholas doesn’t want to marry her, she leaves in a frantic rush, not returning until late that night. Nicholas explains that the invitations are for the wedding his mother planned, not the wedding the two of them want, and that he doesn’t want that wedding. Naomi agrees, and the two decide to get married in their backyard with just a few friends, because the only thing that matters is committing to each other.